Teldin drew a breath to answer, but Aelfred beat him to it. "No mutiny, Estriss," he said calmly. "Teldin needs passage to the Nebulon. I agreed to take him, on my own authority. I'll return the ship to you when that's done."

It is mutiny. The mental "volume" of the illithid's words didn't increase, but the crew immediately stopped their work and turned their eyes on their erstwhile captain. Teldin knew the mind flayer was broadcasting his thoughts for all to pick up. I order you to belay your work, Estriss continued. I reverse all orders that Aelfred Silverhorn might have given, and I relieve him of his authority.

Several of the crew set down the lines they'd been hauling on, or stepped away from the rigging, but most didn't move. All eyes were on Aelfred.

The warrior stood, solid and commanding. Only his eyes moved, flicking over his crewmen. After a score of heartbeats, he spoke. His voice sounded quiet, but somehow it carried to the farthest reaches of the hammership's deck. "You know me," he said calmly. "You've served under me, some of you for years. Do you think I would do this for no reason? Do you think I'd make mutiny on my captain if I had any other choice?" His voice dropped further. Teldin saw crewmen move closer to him to avoid missing his words. "This is a mission of mercy," the mate continued. "You know me. You trust me. Will you follow me?" He put his balled fists on his hips and bellowed, "Will you follow me?"

There was no movement aboard the Probe. Teldin stared at the frozen tableau, afraid to speak, afraid to shatter the spell that seemed to have fallen over them all. Then, one by one, the crewmen returned to their tasks.

With an audible sigh, Teldin let out the breath that he'd been holding. He looked at Estriss. The illithid still seemed frozen; even his facial tentacles were motionless. His featureless eyes were fixed on Aelfred Silverhorn, but Teldin could read no expression in them. The bravos flanking the illithid were almost vibrating with tension, hands hovering near weapon hilts.

I will return to my cabin, Estriss said at length. Aelfred Silverhorn, you have made your choice. The responsibility is yours. He turned away and returned belowdecks, his "honor guard" following a little belatedly.

Aelfred didn't even watch the mind flayer go. If Estriss's words had made any impart on him, he didn't show it. Julia appeared on the forecastle. Teldin was surprised by the rush of pleasure he felt, knowing she was on board. That emotion was followed by a sense of sadness. He numbered her as one of his friends aboard the Probe. And now, due to him, she was in the same serious trouble as Aelfred. If you want a long, trouble-free life, don't get involved with me, he thought grimly.

"Helm's ready," Julia called.

Aelfred nodded. "Take us up," he ordered. "Fast."

The officer nodded and disappeared below. Aelfred turned to Teldin, showing a sharklike grin. "Here we go," he said. "Want to see how many laws of the spaceways we can break?"

The deck surged beneath Teldin's feet as the hammership lifted clear of the water. A rushing filled his ears as water poured off the wooden hull. The ship's sail filled, and the ship heeled slightly. The harbor dropped away quickly.

"Ready hand weapons," Aelfred called out to the crew. "Anything that comes near-sea gulls, anything- put an arrow into it." He turned to Teldin and lowered his voice. "Who knows? It could be a wizard sent to stop us."

*****

Despite Aelfred's misgivings, nothing-not even an unfortunate sea gull-tried to interfere with the Probe's departure. The vessel quickly picked up speed, climbing straight upward. Teldin's last view of Rauthaven showed a slate-gray harbor surrounded by a lighter-gray city-no longer the almost-magical place he'd seen on the approach. Then the hammership plunged into the lowering clouds and the land below was lost from view.

It was cold and wet in the cloud deck. Teldin expanded the cloak to full size and pulled it tighter around him. glad for the warmth it gave him. The clouds were so thick that he couldn't see from his position near the forecastle even as far back as the stern turret. Wisps of cloud-stuff were chill arid clammy against his skin. He ran his fingers through his hair, then shook off the droplets of moisture that had collected on his hands.

Under Aelfred's orders, the crew deployed the four triangular fins that added so much to the hammership's sharklike appearance. Others trimmed the sail, while one unfortunate was detailed to clamber up the mast to take station in the crow's nest.

Teldin felt a presence by his shoulder. It was Aelfred. "I think we're clear," he told Teldin.

As if the big warrior's words were the necessary incantation, the Probe burst out of the clouds and into open air. Teldin was facing west, and the brilliance of the evening sun dazzled him. He turned away, wiping streaming eyes.

The cloud deck was spread out below them like the landscape of another planet. The dark gray of slate below, it was a lighter gray, almost white, from above. It formed rolling hills and plains, deep chasms and towering mountains. It looked as solid as the land that surrounded Rauthaven, easily solid enough to bear the weight of a man, or even of something larger. He stared at the cloud topography. It was easy to imagine creatures living up here: humans-or maybe more exotic beings-driving herds of cloud-sheep to graze on the cloud-hills. The cloud-people would have cloud-cities, he imagined, and would climb the heights of the cloud-peaks for enjoyment.

He forced himself to look away and shook his head to clear it. He was exhausted, he knew. The buzzing he felt in his head-and, more, his fantasies about cloud-creatures-told him that he had to sleep. Fatigue poisons were coursing through his body, numbing his nerves and twisting his thoughts as if he'd drunk too much of Aelfred's sagecoarse. When had he last slept? He remembered with difficulty: it was only last night that he'd lain in his cabin aboard the Probe, with Rianna in his aims. No more than twelve hours, then, but it felt like twelve years. He reviewed the events of the past day: the auction, the ambush, the flight….

He shook his head again. Now was no time to think of such tilings. No matter how much the stress he'd been under made his body cry out for sleep, he couldn't indulge himself. He'd be meeting with T'k'Pek soon. He had to be sharp when he spoke to the arcane. There was still much that he had to do… not the least of which was confirm that his own life would be safe after he was free of the cloak. He turned away from the cloud-landscape and climbed the ladder to the forecastle to join Aelfred.

Rianna was below with the hammership's navigator, Sylvie. Teldin was relieved to realize that Willik's information about the Nebulon was correct. Already the vessel hung like an oversized star against the darkening sky.

The hammership approached the arcane's vessel quickly, much quicker than had the dragonfly. Soon Teldin could make out the vessel's cylindrical shape, then the dark bands that were the great windows encircling the massive vehicle. The Probe slowed, coming to a halt above one end of the arcane's ship. There was no sign of the ivory stairway that had given them access to the Nebulon's deck. Of course not, he told himself, that would only be for invited guests. For a moment he wondered if the great cylinder were defended. What weapons might the arcane possess to drive off uninvited guests?

Nothing had attacked them as they'd approached, and why would defenders strike now, when wreckage from the Probe would crash onto their own vessel? There was another issue, even more important, though….